Remembering a World War II hero

Inwood street to be dedicated in memory of Jeff Burns Sr.

Posted

Jeff Burns Jr. — whose father, Jeff Burns Sr., served in one of three all-black tank battalions in World War II — and Jeff Jr.’s longtime friend Dr. William Culpepper are the forces behind a street dedication to honor the late Jeff Sr.

A ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, at 1:30 p.m., at the intersection of Bayview Avenue and Thomas Court in Inwood, with a commemorative service and reception to follow at St. John Baptist Church, at 4 Henry St. Jeff Jr. and Culpepper grew up together in Inwood, though Culpepper now lives in Texas.

“We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,” Culpepper said when asked his reasons for honoring a man whose military exploits took place more than 70 years ago and who died in 1988. “It’s important because he fought for our freedom, and with the animus coming from No. 45, it’s a way to say we don’t go for that,” he added, referring to President Trump. “And all the work those men did means something.”


Beginning with a sixth-grade project at the Number Three School in Lawrence, Burns, who is now 67, has made it his mission to recount stories about the 761st Tank Battalion, also known as the Black Panthers, the unit in which his father served in the tank corps commanded by Gen. George Patton. The two other black tank battalions were the 758th and the 784th. At the time, the military was segregated.

“Two of the most popular all-black units were the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st,” Burns said, noting that the tank battalion created much more damage than the airmen. “Growing up, I saw Audie Murphy and other war heroes, but no one looked like my father. Then I began reading about my father and got deeper and deeper into it.”

According to statistics compiled by Joe Wilson Jr., another son of a member of the 761st, in his book “The 761st ‘Black Panther’ Tank Battalion in World War II,” the unit inflicted 130,000 casualties on the German army and captured or destroyed thousands of weapons, while battling severe weather, difficult terrain, heavily fortified enemy positions, extreme shortages of replacement personnel and equipment, and an overall casualty rate of nearly 50 percent.

Renowned for his off-color language, Patton addressed the 761st six days before the unit became the first African-American armored unit to see combat. “Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army,” he told them, according to the unit’s history, written by Lt. Colonel Roger Cunningham. “… I don’t care what color you are, as long as you go up there and kill those kraut sonsabitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you … Don’t let them down. Don’t let me down.”

Settling in Inwood
Jeff Burns Sr. was born in Boston, Ga., in 1904, the youngest of nine children. In 1938, the family moved to Florida, but couldn’t find work. Jeff headed north and settled in Inwood a year later. He found a job as a tailor at the Bonwit Teller department store in Manhattan, but in 1940, he enlisted in the Army. “It was pride,” his son said. “Like many black people, he wanted to show his support for America despite the segregation.”

For nearly five years, Burns served his country. The tank battalion was formed in 1942 in Louisiana, and was transferred to Camp Hood in Texas. One of the men Burns saluted was 2nd Lt. Jackie Robinson. (Years later, Jeff Jr. and Robinson’s daughter, Sharon, attended Howard University at the same time.)

The 761st slugged its way across Europe, taking part in the battles that breached the infamous Siegfried Line, which stretched nearly 400 miles and had more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. The battalion fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and as the war wound down it was one of the first American units to reach Steyr, Austria, at the Enns River, where it met the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Soviet army.
“At that time, segregation was so prevalent, and black men were thought to be inferior, so to prove themsel-ves, they fought and fought — it’s a testament to them,” Culpepper said of the street dedication. “Jeff Burns Sr. is a shining example of a brave, heroic man.”

After the war
Returning to Inwood, Jeff Sr. resumed his job at Bonwit Teller, and at the First Baptist Church in Far Rockaway, he met Genevieve Russell. They married in 1945. Burns also came to own a dry-cleaning business in Lynbrook. He retired in the late 1960s, after returning to Bonwit Teller and becoming head tailor, his son said. Genevieve died in 2015. Their daughter, Jean Burns Doe, died three years ago.

Along with combat medals from the war, the 761st was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, and 20 years later, Jeff Sr. was added on the Roll of Honor at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, who represents Inwood, has nominated him posthumously for the Congressional Medal of Honor. A Hollywood movie about the battalion, “The Liberators,” is reportedly in the works.

Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg, of Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere, will offer a prayer at the street dedication. Burns, Ginsberg said, was “the kind of hero we need today.”

“Widespread racism in the 1940s could have soured him on America,” the rabbi said. “Instead, he enlisted to fight on behalf of all his countrymen. Demonstrating through his service in the 761st Tank Battalion the talent, professionalism and patriotism of African-Americans, he helped open the doors of equal opportunity for men and women of every faith and ethnic group. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.”